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Erianna led me through the double doors, into the room where I’d married Sebastian only twenty-two hours ago. The clock chimed ten, and Erianna’s hold on me tightened. She was risking everything, even being in this room. To be seen by the king was to induce his wrath, but she didn’t seem to care, not even glancing in his direction as we walked.
It was a stark difference from last night. The crowds were gone, dispersed by Sargon’s guards and forced to attend celebrations elsewhere. But I could hear the thrum of the music in the distance.
This ceremony was far more intimate.
My mom bit her lip from the altar where she stood with my father, standing over the dagger that would end my life. Kalon watched from a few paces away, Niall next to him, a chilling look in his chiseled features. He held a goblet with both hands and approached me as I reached the altar made of stone, engraved with ancient symbols from a time long before any of us.
“This is for you.” A twinkle danced those deep browns as he handed me the goblet. In it was a golden liquid. “It’s venom.”
I remembered I would need the venomandtheir blood to return as a vampire. Erianna shot me a cautious glance, knowing damn well what they must have put inside it. Then, before I could refuse the goblet, Niall stumbled, spilling the cloying liquid over my dress.
“Fuck, sorry,” he swore, kicking a stone from under his foot, which must have made him lose his balance. I peered over his shoulder, finding satisfaction in Kalon’s grimace.
However, I knew he would have a backup. In case.
Niall cocked his head and gazed beyond my veil, at my neck. “I would be happy to replace the venom, delivering it directly.” He moved to bite my neck, but Sebastian sped between us, his fist connecting with Niall’s jaw, knocking him backward. “The hell you will.” His shoulders tightened, and his wings exploded outward, blocking me.
Niall laughed, wiping the smear of blood from his chin. “Someone has to.” He pointed at the spilled venom.
Sebastian growled. “Then it will be me. Go back to your corner.”
Niall snorted and returned to Kalon’s side, who smoothed down a wrinkle in his hooded, jet-black robe. The corner of my mouth twitched when I spotted him watching me, his snake-eyes unblinking as I was forced to my knees in front of the altar by the executioner.
My father’s shadow loomed over me as he approached, sliding the dagger over the stone altar. The blade glistened under the low, flickering light from the candles on the walls. Closing my eyes, my heart thumped faster as if it knew the end was coming. Adrenaline spiked through my veins, my survival instincts kicking in as the cold settled under my dress and veil.
My father's voice echoed throughout the room. “Sebastian, you will give your wife your blood and venom.”
I straightened on hearing ‘wife’. It felt strange to my ears, and my fingers prickled. Shivers took over my body, as the executioner—a masked man with white hair—took the dagger in his steady grasp.
My own trembled, and I felt a hand on my shoulder. Jolting, I swallowed my gasp, realizing it was Sebastian. “It’s okay,” he said, his voice strained as he lowered his lips to my neck. “I’m going to be right here when you come back.”
Tears flooded into my view, tipping over and rolling down my cheeks. I wished I could stop myself from shaking. I hated knowing Kalon was watching me, and was only grateful that Gwen, Velda, and Astor hadn’t been invited.
Niall’s expression darkened as our eyes clashed across the room. I inhaled sharply as Sebastian’s lips grazed my neck, his fingers cupping my throat, tipping my head to the side. Niall and Kalon disappeared from my peripheral vision as the executioner stole my attention, the dagger ready in his hands.
Fangs pierced my skin, sending a pang of pain down my chest and into the pit of my stomach. A scream left my lips, and his grip tightened, pulling me into his chest, cradling me in his arms. The searing heat in my veins calmed, turning to liquid ecstasy as I found myself in the depths of an itch nothing but his venom could scratch.
The feel of his firm hands on me and his body against mine ruined me for anyone else. “Don’t stop,” I begged, as he slowed the sucking of my blood.
His fangs retracted, leaving my skin, my hair wetting from blood as it seeped from the puncture wounds.
“Sebastian,” I whispered his name, like he was my personal prayer. Nothing in the world mattered but him right now. Not even death. A small, rational part of me knew it was the effects of the venom, but his touch did something different to me. My thighs fell apart as arousal slicked between my legs, an ache only he could satisfy.
“Later, baby girl,” he promised as I laced my fingers under his shirt, tracing the deep muscles forming a V down to his groin.
He lifted his wrist against my lips, and blood wetted my mouth. I ran my tongue over the bite marks he’d made and took his blood. The taste should have made me shudder, but I craved more of it.Of him.
“Don’t let him kill me,” I asked as his hold on me loosened. The thought of my death made its way through the venom-induced haze, and I stiffened. “I want you to do it.”
His breath hitched, and voices sounded from beyond us. They were discussing it, but Sebastian didn’t care. Before they could come at me with the dagger—as was tradition for a royal—his lips were back on my throat.
His venom quickly numbed the pain, and my head tipped, my eyelids closing on the view of the high ceiling. Tingling pricked over my arms and legs, and my breaths quickened. My lips fell open as I tried to say something, but I was too weak to speak. My heart slowed drastically, skipping a beat as I succumbed to the dizziness.
Hot flushes ran the length of me, yet I felt cold, shivering against his body. Tiredness came in waves, and before I knew it, I couldn’t open my eyes. Consciousness lost its grasp, and I was blacking out.
I understood now why they called it being Shadow Kissed. Shadows crept through, spilling into every corner of my mind, coiling around my soul. His hand clinging to mine as I took my last breath, and death swept me into its arms.
***
